Q5 interview - Alistair Morfey, Cambridge Consultants

See all the Q5 Interviews with electronics industry leaders

Alistair Morfey, Technology Director at Cambridge Consultants, explains the importance of smart metering to Electronics Weekly, and the contribution the electronics industry will make in this sector over the next 10 years.

What is smart metering?

It will be big business in the next ten years, if the government has its way - they have targeted the roll out of about 50M smart electricity and gas meters in the UK by 2020, all with two-way communications with the energy supplier. There is a tremendous opportunity for the industry to create system architectures and products that will have a real impact on people's lives for many decades to come.

Smart metering systems, integrating with home automation systems, will include home displays, and will include novel functionality for other devices that allow consumers to monitor and manage their energy consumption more effectively. In 2020 your washing machine will be part of a domestic eco-system that allows a choice of a low cost, low-carbon time to run its power-intensive activities.

Why do I need a smart meter?

The newly formed Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has committed the UK to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80% on 1990 levels by 2050. For this to have any chance of success, we must not only generate energy from sources with low CO2 emissions, but also enable widespread local micro-generation, and reduce both peak load and overall energy consumption. In common with others in Europe, the UK government sees smart meters as essential to this goal. 

Low income groups and eco-enthusiasts are already motivated to manage and reduce their energy consumption: the challenge for the 'big six' UK energy suppliers, as well as Ofgem and the DECC, is to motivate the vast majority of average consumers to both engage in their energy consumption and change their behaviour to reduce it. This will require smart technology in meters, but also highly innovative product design for the watt-guzzling products in our homes, and integration between them all to empower consumers to make a difference.

How do smart meters work?

Although the core of any meter is the metrology, this is possibly the only part of a smart metering system where innovation is not required: technologies that accurately and reliably measure the consumption of both electricity and gas are well established and commoditised. The real innovation is required in the communications, the interfaces, and the systems that interact with both the suppliers and the consumers.

Smart metering systems must have both low-cost WAN communications to the supplier and LAN communications with the consumer, allowing clear communication of consumption and tariffs, including time-of-use, in real time.

From the supplier's perspective, it is vital that there are interoperable standards, so that no meter change is required when the consumer "switches" energy supplier. From the consumer's perspective, electricity and gas should present the same user experience as each other. It is not the consumer's problem that gas and water meters must run from batteries, but still achieve the 15 year life expected of meters.

This, by the way, is an average consumption of 15uA from a standard lithium AA cell. It is the gas meter, where power is so scarce, that should drive the system architecture, especially as our gas bills are much higher than our electricity bills, so the potential impact is greater. In reality most current smart meter development is on electricity meters, a relatively easy challenge.

When are smart meters going to be rolled out?

This is a major challenge. Logistically, if the roll out is to happen on schedule, it equates to roughly 180k meters per week running up to 2020. For the energy suppliers and meter manufacturers there are further challenges as although they are international companies, the requirements are national: the commercial models for ownership of equipment and regulation vary significantly internationally.

Can I get a smart meter now?

The UK standards are not yet agreed, nor the meters designed, that will meet the many complex requirements of the stakeholders in this industry. There is a conflict between the economists, who will push for a free market and diversity, and engineers, who will want standards to reduce cost and complexity. There are requirements for innovation in user interface, communications, interoperability, power management... The list goes on.

These are just some of the design challenges that present opportunities for the electronics industry. The solutions must both meet the current requirements and be flexible enough to allow for technological change, particularly in communications, in the future. The opportunity is there to resolve this with an architecture that will serve the UK well for the next 50 years.

See also: Q5 - Interviews with electronics industry leaders
Read all the Electronics Weekly Q5 interviews. From ARM's chairman, Sir Robin Saxby, to touchscreen technology firm Zytronic's MD, Mark Cambridge, the business leaders share their particular insights on the UK electronics industry.

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